Romefellar's Children
by Xenophon
Summary: the forward is a better summary, but basically: The former Gundam pilots once again have to fight to keep Earth and the Colonies at peace, but this time w/o their Gundams and against something worse than they have ever incountered before. *new characters
1. Forward

I didn't exactly change the original storyline, but I have added a bit extra to it that uh...just wasn't talked about during the show or Endless Waltz...*cough, cough* That's why the forward is here =)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Gundam Wing, but I do own Shailyn and Makura(Kintaro)  
  
Forward  
  
In the year AC 184, a military industrial company known as the Romefellar Foundation, began to secretly take custody of hundreds of orphans. These children were trained in undercover military bases to become fearless fighters; "the perfect soldiers". When the Earth went to war with the colonies in AC 196, training was intensified, but not even the oldest trainee was deemed ready to fight for the foundation. With the surrender of Earth and the destruction of the Romefellar Foundation on the eve of AC 197, the hidden boot camps were discovered. Because the children had been trained specifically for war and knew almost nothing else, incorporating them back into society as regular kids and teens was impossible. Instead–with the permission of Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian-Peacecraft–the Head of the Preventers, General Une took on the responsibility of reeducating the orphans on their loyalty and adding them to the ranks of Preventers.  
  
Many however, refused to accept the end of the Romefellar Foundation, instead they joined with the OZ officials who had deserted their cause in order to save themselves or, more commonly, the children banded together to form unions of criminals. Those who agreed to new training almost always rose quickly through the ranks of Preventers to become high commanding officers, there were some, however, that deliberately stunted their ambitions, preferring to stay back within the rows of common soldiers.  
  
The good relations that continued between the colonies and Earth, brought about many changes in the way business was run. Way stations between colonies, and between Earth and the colonies were set up. These stations provided fuel and food to merchant and business ships in need and were most often run by Preventers. Usually no more than three Preventers are assigned to each station. If more help is needed the central computer is connected to that of Preventer Head Quarters and messages can be relayed quickly.  
  
The year is now AC 199... 


	2. Way 415

Sorry, but it starts out a little slow....this is basically just an introduction to Shailyn. Don't worry, our beloved pilots make a much bigger appearance in chapter two =)  
  
March 2001  
  
(The Year of Heero Yuy)  
  
Part One  
  
Chapter One: Way 415  
  
Shailyn Kawato looked out at the glittering stars bright against the black of space. Her shift was almost over and there wasn't a single vessel in sight, nor had there been all day. No ships had scheduled a stop at Way 415, but most arrived unannounced anyway, so the inactivity was a slight, though not unwelcome, surprise. The green light on the bridge door blinked, she hit the release button and with a hiss the door slid open. Jason Yovela, the leading officer of the three Way 415 residents, stepped in, yawning. The door shut behind him with another hiss.  
  
"I couldn't sleep," he mumbled, and slid into the seat next to her's. "Anything new?"  
  
She shook her head with a sigh. It wasn't that she liked hurrying everywhere trying to get things set up, which was what happened whenever a ship docked, but having to watch the bridge without any reason was very boring.  
  
"Bored?" Jason asked.  
  
"Yes, sir." She said with a slight smile.  
  
"I'll relieve you early then. I've got nothing else to do, though I'm not sure being up here will make me feel all that busy."  
  
"Yes, sir." This time she really smiled. With a hurried salute she left the top deck. All Way stations were made of only three decks, the upper one was the communications area where they received calls from Preventer Head Quarters about replacements or new assignments, and from incoming ships in need of repairs or supplies. The middle floor was the kitchen, lounge and rooms for the stationed Preventers. The bottom contained all that was necessary to do repairs on ships, as well as fueling. Three mobile suits were also stored on the lower level, but they had remained inactive since their storage in August of AC 197.  
  
Shailyn went straight to her room, and removed her helmet and gun, both of which she was required to wear when on duty incase of an emergency. She picked up the small wire brush from the bed stand, the only other piece of furniture in the room besides the bed, and undid the long copper braid she kept coiled around her head so that the helmet would fit properly. When let loose, her long hair just reached the small of her back, curling slightly at the tips. After a few quick strokes of the brush, she once again braided it and pinned it in a crown atop her head. When that was done she went out to the lounge area and sat at one of the computers, these were not hooked up to the main computers or connected to Preventer Intelligence in any way. Their only purpose was for entertainment.  
  
Shailyn logged onto the internet, most of her free time was spent here, updating herself with current events. Those assigned to Way Stations for long periods of time tended to detach themselves from the goings on of the rest of humanity, if action on one's personal part was not taken.  
  
There had been many little skirmishes lately, between the smaller countries in Africa and Europe who had been coerced into joining the Earth Sphere United Nations. Groups of Preventers were stationed in each country to hold the peace, but despite their name they didn't seem to be much help in preventing the recent chain of murders that had suddenly occurred within the last few months. Every victim had been of high political status in each country and conspiracy theories were flying everywhere.  
  
Shailyn quickly skimmed the news reports, there wasn't much point in reading them closely, they wouldn't tell her anything she hadn't already known by way of the information nearly all Preventers were granted access to. After checking to make sure nothing new and important had come up since the last time she'd been on, Shailyn logged off. Rubbing her slightly burning eyes, (computer screens always did that to her) she returned to her quarters to take a nap.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The Scorpion drifted through empty space, its walls creaking with age. It was a cargo ship, once used to transport metals to and from the OZ shipyards. Now it was just a disguise for the men aboard who needed to look like traders.  
  
Colonel Morai glanced over the cargo bay at the yong soldiers scurrying about, trying to look busy without really having anything to do. His tall, massive figure loomed over them like a bear, ready to lash out at any who dared make a mistake. Grunting with disinterest, he turned toward the elevator doors. He had not gone far when a red-haired soldier ran up to him. The Colonel glared at the gangly young man, a scowl appearing on his haggard face. The soldier hesitated when he saw the other's face.  
  
"What is it, Makura?" The Colonel growled. Remembering his place, the soldier saluted.  
  
"Sir, we have reached the Way 415. Scanners detected only three aboard- a minor problem." A smile creased his face, but soon disappeared after a glance at his superior.  
  
Colonel Morai nodded once. "Good. Begin Operation Antietam at once!" His booming voice caused several officers near them to flinch. Makura motioned for a few to follow him, and hurried toward the nearest shuttle.  
  
Morai sat in his office 15 minutes later. 'The mission should go just as planned. He thought silently. They should be in and out of the Way Station with the information we need in less than 30 minutes.' A beeping from his computer interrupted his thoughts. He had a message. Sighing, he hit the "receive" button, and the glowing face of the red- headed soldier appeared on the screen.  
  
"Colonel, we have entered the docking bay, one down, two to go."  
  
The Colonel's face darkened. "Well stop wasting time and get to the bridge!" The young man flushed. After a moment's hesitation, he saluted and was gone. Cocky imbecile. Morai thought darkly.  
  
~*~*~  
  
To Shailyn it seemed that she had only just shut her eyes when the red emergency lights in her quarters started flashing and the loud siren began ringing through her ears.  
  
"Red Alert, Red Alert! Unauthorized Entry!" Blared the computer voice over the intercom.  
  
"What the..." Shailyn snapped into a sitting position, grabbing both her helmet and gun from the floor, where she had carelessly thrown them, she hurried out of her room. Already in her uniform/spacesuit, she entered the hallway and began running towards the docking bay. Before she had made it to the elevator, she met Kayle Dutton, the other Preventer assigned to Way 415.  
  
"What's going on?" Cried the other girl, her short blonde hair was sticking up in all directions, indicating she too, had been awakened without warning. "I tried contacting the bridge but there wasn't anyone there."  
  
"I don't know." Shailyn said, the two of them had reached the elevator door. Entering the small room she tapped the button for the lower deck. "Let's get to the docking bay first, before we check out the bridge. It might just be thieves trying to steal our supplies." She began clipping the locks on her helmet to her space suit, Kayle stared, frozen, for a second before she too, attached her helmet. Then they both entered the elevator.  
  
As the doors opened to reveal the docking bay, Shailyn gasped at what she saw; Jason sprawled on the floor, bleeding profusely from his right shoulder. Kayle ran to his side.  
  
"Jason! Are you alright? What *happened*?" Kayle yelled above the noise of the siren.  
  
Jason moaned and with great effort said, "Hurry-they're heading for the bridge, I'm not sure why-be careful! There are at least six, I think. Ugh, hurry, *hurry*! We can't let them break into the main core. Who knows what information they could get a hold of! Argh!" And with that last sigh, his head went limp in Kayle's hand.  
  
Shailyn saw a tear trickle down Kayle's cheek, and suddenly felt a lump rise in her own throat. Jason had been one of her only close friends, him and Kayle. Being trained as a young child in the field of war, she had learned to live with death, but even so, she could not stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. They stood like that for a couple of seconds, Shailyn standing, staring at the motionless body of Jason Yovela, and Kayle, with his head on her lap.  
  
Shaking off the growing sense of despair, Shailyn grabbed Kayle by the arm and with a hoarse voice said, "Come on, there will be time to grieve later-we have a problem to take care of." And yanked the blonde girl to her feet.  
  
"Got your gun?" Shailyn asked Kayle.  
  
She stiffened and pulled out one of the small hand guns that could easily be hidden on one's person, all Preventers were issued them. Kayle smiled bitterly, "Of course." Without another word she turned and ran back to the elevator they had just exited. Shailyn only a step behind.  
  
The door of the elevator opened before they got there though and six men rushed out. Skidding to a halt Shailyn ducked behind a crate as the intruders opened fire. Kayle followed her, and both began shooting into the elevator doorway.  
  
"There's too many! There are six of them, and only two of us. We can't handle this! What are we going to do!?" Kayle yelled over the blast of gunshots. Shailyn couldn't miss the desperation in her voice.  
  
"Just hang in there! I'm gonna move to the other side of the bay, cover me, OK?" There was no answer.  
  
"Hey-" Shailyn stopped short. Kayle was lying face down on the floor, a dark pool of blood forming around her head.  
  
"Kayle!" Shailyn fan to her side. She had taken a bullet through her temple. Hate and determination swelled within her. 'They'll pay for what they did!'  
  
Shailyn jumped from behind the crate and opened fire.  
  
Surprised by her sudden appearance, the intruders hesitated. Two went down before the others even knew what had happened.  
  
So caught up in her anger, Shailyn never saw the soldier near her left side, he had crept around the side behind some crates when the two girls had first taken cover. Now he raised his gun and she felt a sudden sharp pang on the back of her head.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Wufei watched the terminal with bored eyes. He hated being on patrol and in the 400 sector in particular. Bandits and space pirates were rarely stupid enough to enter the space of the richest colonies orbiting the earth. Should blood be spilled in one of the wealthy mining colonies a fuss was always made and armed forces always sent in, the poor colonies were another matter, no one ever seemed to notice when they were suffering.  
  
'All the more reason for us to be there instead of here,' thought Wufei angrily. He was half way out of his chair to go look for Sally Po to ask her if she would take over for him when a red light on the screen started flashing. The alarm had been set off at Way Station 415. Sitting back down abruptly, Wufei set the ship on its highest speed and directed it toward Way 415.  
  
It took them just slightly less then half an hour to reach the station and by that time Sally had joined him at the bridge. After receiving no response from the station's computer, Wufei landed the ship in the open docking bay.  
  
Stepping out, the two Preventers were hit with a horrid sight; blood was pooled all over the floor, three bodies lay in three different places and there were blood pools near the elevator door that told of others who had been there but were now gone.  
  
Wufei knelt beside a young man who wore a Preventer's space uniform. There was blood caked near his right shoulder and the size of the pool next to him did not leave any room for speculation as to why he had died. Sally Po moved to the next body while Wufei went on to the one farthest from the others.  
  
The visor on the girl's helmet was shattered and from the odd way she was twisted, he was sure her neck was at least sprained if not broken. Examining the back her helmet Wufei saw that it had been pierced by a bullet that hadn't quite made it all the way through. The shot had been made at a bad angle and the bullet just made it far enough to graze the girls upper neck. 'The force of the shot must have knocked her against this crate,' Wufei thought. Taking her limp wrist between his fingers he felt the faint but steady beat of her pulse.  
  
"This one's still alive!" He called over his shoulder to his partner. She stood up shaking her head.  
  
"This one's not." 


	3. Questions Without Answers

Chapter Two: Questions Without Answers  
  
Quatre Raberba-Winner stared at the screen with mild satisfaction. Since his father died, he had taken control of his families mining business, and that business was doing very well. The demand for iron-ore and gundanium was rising. With the advance in technology, spurred by the war, many new companies had been created overnight by entrepreneurs catching hold as quickly as they could to the new industries. The Preventers were also buying up metals to create better security systems with all the opposition rising in the Colonies as well as on Earth. 'Preventers....I wonder how Sally and Wufei are doing. I haven't seen him or Heero since the destruction of the Gundams....'  
  
A beep from his computer interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Yes?" he said, and Dorothy Catalonia's face appeared on the screen.  
  
"Mr. Winner, Wufei is here to see you, should I send him in?" She smiled at his startle face. "I think he wants to talk to you about getting more gundanium shipments."  
  
'Why would Wufei be showing up now? He always seemed to be so busy since the Way Stations were built. He's always sent someone else to do the business....'Out loud Quatre said, "Send him in. Thanks, Dorothy." She grinned, and was gone. He looked up as Wufei came through the doors of his office.  
  
"Hello, Wufei, how are you? I trust the new Way Stations are coming on nicely?" Quatre gestured to a chair similar to his own. Wufei sat down, then pulled something out of his pocket.  
  
"See for yourself." He said in a matter-of-fact voice, and handed Quatre a CD.  
  
Looking a bit puzzled, Quatre placed the disc into his computer, and waited silently. A moment later, a docking bay appeared, with three mobile suits and crates scattered everywhere. 'A Way Station,' he thought, bewildered.  
  
A soldier wearing a Preventers uniform came into view, hold some sort of gun; the camera was too far away to see what kind. He ducked behind some crates and started firing into an area that was out of the camera's view. Whoever the target was, opened fire as well, and after a few minutes of random shooting, the soldier was taken out.  
  
The shots from the opposite side subsided and the targets came into view. There were six, all in the same gray uniform with a thin red line running down the arms and legs. One of them, a tall, gangly redhead, barked orders to the others, and the whole party exited through a set of elevator doors across from them. 'Obviously the leader.' Quatre thought.  
  
Sometime during the battle, an alarm had been sounded and a few minutes after the intruders had left, two more Preventers burst through the same door.  
  
Quatre watched all this happen with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had heard of Way Stations being attack, but it was always for the supplies that every Way was equipped with. These guys hadn't given the crates a second thought. 'So what was it they were after?' He continued to watch the screen.  
  
The six intruders came back through the door, and the two remain Preventers opened fire. But from shear numbers, both were soon overtaken. Quatre grimaced as he saw one girl take a bullet through the head. The other lasted a few minutes longer, but she too was hit and fell heavily against a crate. The screen went black.  
  
"That was Way 415, a station on the outskirts of Preventer territory. Sally Po and I, received their distress call, but we got there after the intruders had already left. The only survivor was Shailyn Kawato." Wufei took the disc back from Quatre, and replaced it in his pocket.  
  
"Do you have any idea who they were or what they were after? It couldn't have been just another pirate attack, they didn't even look at the crates." Quatre asked.  
  
"All we know is that right after they shot down Jason Yovela, they headed straight to the bridge-and the main computer. There is no way to tell how much information they got." Wufei shrugged.  
  
Suddenly Quatre thought of something. "Didn't you use Heero's codes? There is no way anybody could get past those, even I can't." Quatre thought back to the time when he and Duo Maxwell had tried, just for fun, but even after several hours, neither could break through.  
  
Wufei nodded. "Yeah, used as many as we had time to install, but there was still some information we were forced to use the original Preventers' codes on, because of our lack of time. We do, however, have an idea who it was that attacked the Way Station."  
  
Quatre sat back into his chair, waiting impatiently for Wufei to explain, but the conversation was interrupted, once again, by Dorothy's voice on his computer.  
  
"Mr. Winner, your meeting with the Colony Leader Mr. Hokkaido is in five minutes, you are going to be late." Quatre sighed. He was definitely not looking forward to this meeting. Politics had never been his strong point. "I'll be there in a minute." He turned back to Wufei.  
  
"Since when does Dorothy Catalonia work for you?" He asked, mildly curious..  
  
"After the war, she had no place to go, no home. I think afterwards, she regretted some of the things she did, so, I offered her a job."  
  
"Hm. I wont keep you from your meeting then, I'll explain what I can, the next time we talk." And with that, he walked to the doors, and left.  
  
"Mr. Winner?" Dorothy's voice sounded impatiently over the computer. Still a little surprised at Wufei's abrupt exit, he turned back to the screen where Dorothy's face waited.  
  
"I'm coming, and Dorothy?" She looked at him expectantly. "Could you see where Wufei is staying? I would like to know-" He stopped at her glowing face.  
  
"He is currently registered at the Juniper Base in the fourth quadrant, less than 15minutes shuttle-drive from here."  
  
Quatre grinned. Dorothy Catalonia never ceased to amaze him. With a quick glance over his suit, he turned and left through the same doors Wufei had.  
  
~*~*~  
  
When Quatre met with Wufei later on, Sally Po and Duo were with him. They had agreed on a small secluded Mexican diner not far from the Winner Residence as their meeting place. When Quatre arrived, Wufei and Duo were already there; Duo as always chatting away with a vengeance, Wufei looking like he'd rather be anywhere else then at that table and Sally was laughing.  
  
"Quatre!" Duo cried when he saw the blonde. "It's been so long. I missed you." Duo faked a sob and jumped up from his seat to envelope Quatre in a bear hug.  
  
"It's good to see you to, Duo. How's Hilde? Are the Preventers treating you as fits such a magnificent mechanic?"  
  
Wufei snorted at the last part, but didn't say anything. Duo sighed extravagantly, "It gets tough sometimes, but I manage."  
  
Quatre shook hands with Sally and then sat down across from Wufei. A waitress came and took their orders and brought them appetizers and drinks, then silence descended as they waited for their food to arrive. Finally Duo broke the quiet.  
  
"Well, are we going to get down to business or just stare at each other all evening? I'm assuming Quatre doesn't know what's up either, so, Wufei? Sally?" He looked from one to the other. "Care to explain?"  
  
Wufei fingered his water glass for a second before speaking. "I've shown Duo what the Way's camera caught." He addressed Quatre. "But I brought him here before I told him any of what we thought so I wouldn't have to repeat myself to you."  
  
"We believe there's a group forming in the underworld that means to destroy the ESUN. We are almost completely sure that the leaders are remnants from OZ's troops. When Romefellar fell, many went into hiding and though we were able to fish a lot of them out, there were quite a few that escaped and have yet to be tracked." Sally said with a sigh, for someone who was barely into her twenties, she looked aged and exhausted. Quatre felt a pang, they were all getting old, granted right now all the pilots were only 19 except Quatre himself, who was still 18 since his birthday was not for a few more months. But they had all lived through more than any teenager should and it was catching up with them. Now that he thought of it Wufei even looked a little tired.  
  
"We also think that whoever they are, they're behind the political murders on Earth." Wufei put in.  
  
"You mean the ones that have been all over the Net News?" Duo asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "I knew they weren't just random, do you have any names or anything else for us to go on?"  
  
"We only know that their uniforms are similar to those that a certain faction of OZ called the Hanran, wore. They were a suicide group that were more than a little dedicated to their work. After the war the leaders of that group disappeared and we haven't been able to find any of them."  
  
"Agh!" Duo cried, throwing his arms in the air. "That's *nothing*! how do expect us to find anything out if that's all the information you can give us!?"  
  
"That's not all." Snapped Wufei. "If you'd shut up and stop interrupting maybe you'd hear the rest."  
  
Sally continued as if neither had spoken. "They've some how gotten a hold of some very fancy mobile suits, our guess is that they've made them themselves, because they're not any design that our people have seen. That's not what has got us stumped though, it is only logical to assume there are qualified engineers among the dissenters, but we don't know how or where they got the metals to build those suits. It seems they're all made of gundanium from what we've found."  
  
"How do you know all this if you haven't been able to find out where these people are hiding and you know very little about them in general, only guesses...unproven theories." Quatre entered the conversation for the first time.  
  
"A group of Preventers were investigating a site in Egypt, there had been rumors that a military base was set up in the desert and people had reported having seen mobile suits that moved faster than anything we've dealt with except maybe the Gundams. When the investigating team got there though, all they found was an empty warehouse, but the floor was littered with pieces of iron, tungsten and gundanium." Sally looked between Duo and Quatre to see their reactions.  
  
"Have you told Heero or Trowa about this?" Quatre finally asked.  
  
"Yes, they've both been notified, Heero is with Shailyn in a hospital right now, she sprained her neck and was grazed by a bullet, but the wound's been bandaged and other than that she's in good condition. Trowa is on his way to meet Heero, they're going to see if she knows anything that might be helpful." Wufei said.  
  
"Well, I say let's join them." Duo said cheerfully, just as the food arrived. "But not now, of course, now we eat!!"  
  
Quatre and Sally laughed their agreement and settled down to a filling meal.  
  
~*~*~  
  
When Shailyn opened her eyes, the first thing that she say was a white ceiling surrounded by blank white walls. The next was a pair of dark blue eyes placed in a face framed by dark brown hair.  
  
"Oh." She said startled, as the young man stared coldly at her. She had vague bits of memory, flashes of a Chinese boy and a Preventer's shuttle, but that was all. Her neck ached and something was preventing her from moving it side-to-side, there was also a dull throbbing pain in the back of her head. "Where am I?" She managed to keep her voice level.  
  
"You're in St. Thompson's hospital on Colony L7." His voice was low and gentle, there was something familiar about him but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"The name I'm known by is Heero Yuy, that's what you should call me."  
  
Shailyn gaped at him, *Heero Yuy*!?! Every Preventer, probably every person on Earth, knew who Heero Yuy was.  
  
His lips quirked in a smile at her reaction. "I'm here to find out what you remember about the attack on your post. Anything you can tell us will be helpful in finding out who is responsible."  
  
Her eyes lowered and her face fell when he mentioned the attack. She wanted nothing more than to forget the whole awful thing, both Jason and Kayle were killed. There wasn't a soul in world who cared about her now, most likely she'd be assigned to another post when she recovered and she'd have to deal with making friends all over again. She didn't want to make new friends, she wanted her old ones back, but that was impossible now. It occurred to her that she might get a minimal amount of satisfaction in bringing their killers to justice. If only for revenge she decided to tell Heero everything she remembered, but she didn't see how it would be very helpful, she hadn't seen much after the alarm woke her up.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Quatre looked up as he heard a soft knock on his door. "Come in." It was Dorothy.  
  
"What did you find?"  
  
"A large shipment of gundanium-alloy is missing." She replied, obviously not happy about it.  
  
"Missing!? How is that possible? I thought you-" She interrupted him.  
  
"Were overseeing the operations personally? I was. I don't know how they got past security or me. But I was looking over our accounts, and I remembered this." She handed him a picture of a tall, gangly red-head.  
  
"This is the guy from the Way Station!" Quatre looked at her expectantly.  
  
"I saw him a couple weeks ago. Prowling around the iron-ore supplies. He said he was just making sure it was 'good quality'. I had him thrown out, after I made sure the cameras had seen him." Quatre nodded.  
  
"Did you get his name?" Quatre sat forward in his chair.  
  
"I did. He said it was Makura Hitorimono." Quatre frowned at the name, but listened as Dorothy continued. "He's an employee of a company called Phoenix Enterprises on Earth, they manufacture a lot of heavy machinery for the mining companies in the area, of which we are not one.  
  
"So why would he be here?" Quatre wondered out loud. "Thanks, Dorothy. I'll bring this information with me when I go to meet with Wufei and Sally."  
  
"You're welcome, Mr. Winner." She said, a slight smile on her face as she left.  
  
Quatre watched her leave, weariness once again taking hold of him. Glancing at the picture once more, he turned back to his computer. 


	4. Kintaro and Makura

Part Two  
  
Chapter Four: Kintaro and Makura  
  
Makura Hitorimono sat back against his chair in frustration. He had acquired more information than Morai had hoped for, but the Preventer codes had been harder to break than he expected. These codes were new, they were more complex and he had never seen anything like them. He always welcomed a challenge, but this was more than he wanted.  
  
The Colonel was not one to be forgiving, either. Makura grimaced at the idea of having to tell Morai that he could not break the codes. To do so would be suicide, he was sure. Running a hand through his red locks, he got up from his chair and headed to the lounge. He had not eaten in over 20 hours and it was beginning to catch up with him.  
  
There were others in the eating area, but Makura preferred to eat alone. So, after getting bowl of soup, he took a seat at an empty table in the corner. He hadn't been there for more than a few minutes when a young woman walked up. She was dressed severely in a dark blue suit, her blonde hair wound in a tight knot at the back of her head. Her eyes were a deep, emotionless brown. Makura took her appearance in, in one glance, he also did not fail to notice the black raven tattooed on her left hand. A Raven Eye. He thought with disgust. They were the Hanran's spies and were known for their ruthlessness. Of course, he wasn't about to complain that they did their job a little too well, he had never been the squeamish type and what did it matter to him if they tortured their victims for fun? They really weren't just spies when you came down to it. Their job was to get information, and they used any means possible to get it.  
  
"Makura Hitorimono?" It really wasn't much of question, just confirmation. He nodded a little warily. What did the Raven Eyes want with him? "I've been commanded to take you to General Olguin."  
  
Makura hesitated, staring down at his soup bowl with unease. A Raven Eye sent to take him to General Olguin? This couldn't be good. The General was one of the top minds behind to insurrection, there was almost nobody higher than him in the chain of command, at least not in the military outfit, there were however, those who were supplying them with the equipment and money, and of course it was what they said that went, not what the General said.  
  
"You don't really have a choice in the matter." The woman snapped, impatiently.  
  
"I'm coming." He said quietly. He stood and followed her out, leaving the soup behind, steaming on the table.  
  
~*~*~  
  
*The room she sat in was bare of any furniture save a small bed and a tiny dresser with only two drawers. The walls were completely white without any decoration. A siren sounded outside and she jumped to her feet automatically and rushed out. People were running heedlessly down the hall, knocking each other over and not stopping to help the fallen up. She caught sight of a red-haired boy across the hall.  
  
"Shailyn!! Come on! Hurry up!" He called to her, gesturing forward with his arm.  
  
"Wait for me!" She called back, but he didn't hear her, instead he turned and ran down the hall with everyone else. That was the last time she saw him.  
  
Now she was in a large room, standing at attention with a crowd of other children her age. All eyes were on a man, standing on a platform slightly higher than their heads. He was speaking, but the words were blurred and unclear to her. She stood next to a young boy, he was handsome with brown hair and green eyes, and she felt drawn to him somehow. She knew him, but she couldn't remember how.  
  
The man began talking again. This was it. This was what they had been waiting for. She could feel the tension in the room build as the new Way Station assignments were called out.  
  
There was a mixture of feelings in the room as the names were called. Sighs of relief and groans of dismay. The assignments went on, each boy and girl called forward to receive theirs. The boy was called forward.  
  
"Jason Yovela, you will be in charge of both Kayle Dutton and Shailyn Kawato at Way Station 415." The man paused, looked over his role sheet and then yelled, in a booming voice, "DISMISSED!"  
  
Then abruptly everything changed again and she was crouched in a docking bay, crying over two bodies: Kayle and Jason. Their eyes were wide and staring. Despair crawled through every inch of her body. She raised her head and her eyes met the barrel of a gun.*  
  
Shailyn woke with a start. Her face was wet and the blankets were twisted. Another nightmare. She thought and shivered, trying to shake off the feeling of despair, but she couldn't help feeling that she'd missed something-  
  
"Are you alright?" A soft voice sounded from the doorway. Shailyn jumped. She hadn't noticed anyone come in.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." It was Trowa. "What are you doing up this late?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was in the small room assigned her by General Une, Head of the Preventers, when the group had met with her. All seven of them-four Gundam pilots(Quatre had been caught up in business matters and would be meeting them in a few days), Preventers; Hilde Schbeiker, Sally Po and of course, Shailyn- were in a secluded section of the training barracks.  
  
Still standing in the doorway, Trowa crossed his arms. "I was just looking into the most recent gundanium shipments, coming and going from the major mining companies."  
  
Shailyn looked up expectantly. "Well?"  
  
He shrugged. "Nothing. Quatre really is the one who should be doing this. I'm too military to know much about business transactions."  
  
She nodded, the Gundam pilots were relentless in whatever they were doing and she knew none would be willing to give up, they would find what they were looking for or die trying. There was a moment of silence, then Trowa turned and left.  
  
Shailyn sighed and straightened the blankets around her body. But she couldn't go back to sleep instead she sat for almost an hour, staring up at the ceiling. The light from the hallway was enough for her to see the dim outline of the furniture and markings on the walls. Finally, deciding that she wasn't going to fall back to sleep she got up to get something to eat. It would be hours before they were expected to start working again. General Une had ordered that they all have at least eight hours of sleep every night. Of course, none of them, except occasionally Duo, had had more than three hours a night, in the last four days.  
  
Trowa had returned to one of the computers in the commons and was scanning a long list of names and numbers. The glowing screen cast eerie shadows over his face and Shailyn had to keep herself from shuddering. 'Too many bad dreams,' she thought. 'I'm jumping at everything.'  
  
"You should be asleep." A deep voice spoke from behind her. Whirling, she saw that Heero and Duo had come up behind her. Heero had a look of disapproval on his cold face, but Duo grinned merrily at her and jauntily made his way to the little frig in the kitchen area.  
  
"Aw, give her a break, Heero." He said, taking out two Dr. Peppers and tossing one to Heero. He gave her a questioning look and closed the frig door when she shook her head.  
  
Heero looked just about to reply when Trowa turned to face them. "I think I might have found something." Heero turned away from her and went to look over Trowa's shoulder without a word. Duo jerked his head, indicating for Shailyn to join them, before moving to Trowa's other side.  
  
"See this." He pointed to a column on the screen. "In the past three years, more gundanium has been bought by these three companies," his finger moved across the screen, pointing at each one. "Than by every other company put together."  
  
"I don't recognize Phoenix and Imono," Duo said, squinting at the glowing screen. "But isn't Galileo a space-exploration organization?"  
  
"Yes, and the other two produce mining equipment." Trowa said. "I'm going to continue looking into these three, but I don't think we should make any hasty decisions until Quatre gets here, he might know something about them. His company doesn't sell to any of them and there's got to be a reason for it."  
  
"I do believe they're having a private party and didn't invite us."  
  
Shailyn turned to see that Hilde, Sally and Wufei had entered the commons, Hilde had a look of mock hurt on her face.  
  
"Since we all seem inclined to disobey General Une's order of eight hours of sleep, I think you might want to keep the rest of the group informed, so no one's left in the dark." Sally drawled meaningfully.  
  
Trowa quickly briefed them in on what he had discovered. "Quatre should get here by tomorrow evening, until then, I think we should just research these findings." He ended, glancing at Sally questioningly and she nodded in agreement.  
  
"Shouldn't some of us at least visit the companies, you know, just to see if anyone acts suspicious or anything." Hilde asked.  
  
"I agree-" Heero started.  
  
"Good, then me and Shailyn will go check Galileo out." Hilde said, peremptorily, ignoring Heero's cold stare.  
  
Duo winked at Shailyn and then said, "Heero, why don't you go with Shailyn and Hilde can come with me to see what's up with Phoenix Enterprises. Sally, you an Wufei-"  
  
"I'm staying." Sally said. "I need to contact Quatre and tell him what's going on, also General Une will need to know as well."  
  
"I'll go with Wufei." Trowa said. He stood and went to the printer, then he handed each a pair a stack of papers. "This is all the information I was looking at, dealing with these three companies."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"You have been with this operation from the start, haven't you?" General Olguin, sat at his desk, fingering the edges of a piece of paper. He hadn't looked up once since Makura had entered the room.  
  
"Yes, sir." Makura said, wondering, 'what's this all about?'  
  
"You were trained by Romefellar and after the war you joined Hanran in our fight against the ESUN, correct?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"You've been an excellent addition to our forces here, soldier."  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
"But I've been wondering," the General looked up for the first time and his blank stare caught Makura a little off guard. "Where do your loyalties lie."  
  
Makura blinked, 'what kind of question is that? Haven't I proved myself over and over to them since I joined.' He thought frantically. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't understand how you can question my loyalty when I have never disobeyed an order or shrunk from a duty."  
  
"You changed your name when you joined, correct?"  
  
"Yes sir." He answered warily thinking, 'what is he getting at?'  
  
"From Kintaro Kawato to Makura Hitorimono. Why?"  
  
"I was starting a new life sir, I felt it deserved a new name."  
  
The General didn't respond, instead changed the subject. "You had a sister with you in Romefellar."  
  
"Y-yes, sir. She was killed when the Preventers stormed the camp."  
  
"Do you know that for certain?"  
  
"I looked afterward, sir, I never found any trace of her."  
  
"She's still alive."  
  
Makura felt as if he'd been punched in his stomach. 'Shailyn, alive? How can that be?' Makura had never been able to completely get over her death. He had always felt special because unlike most of the other orphans in Romefellar's school, he had someone he could call family. Shailyn hadn't been as good as him though, she would kill when she had to, but she always tried to find some way out of it. He blamed himself for not watching over her more closely, he should have been there to protect her against the Preventers.  
  
The General continued as if he hadn't noticed Makura's reaction. "She was taken in by the Preventers. She was on the Way Station that you attacked."  
  
"But we killed everyone on that station." Makura blurted out.  
  
"No, you killed two and injured one." The General said coldly. "Your sister was taken by two Preventers to a hospital on colony L7. I sent two Raven Eyes to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't know more than she should, but two of the former-Gundam pilots joined her there and they disappeared."  
  
Makura barely heard what the General was saying, all he could think of was, 'I could have killed my sister.'  
  
"I've told you this because I'm going to trust that it will not effect your work or you loyalty. And to show you how much I trust you, I'm giving you command of the Raven Eyes who have been sent to find your sister and the Preventers who hold her and to destroy them if they have found anything out."  
  
Makura gapped at the General.  
  
"Dismissed." He said before Makura could acknowledge or even agree to the assignment. 


	5. Investigations

Chapter Five: Investigations  
  
Hilde Schbeiker smiled politely as the short, fat little man guiding her through the metal yard, occasionally pointing to a machine and describing its use. Now he was showing her a large machine used to mine coal.  
  
"This here's a real beauty, I thought you might like to look at this one, seein' as you're starting your own mining organization." He gestured toward the machine, and opened his mouth to explain it's use one more time, Hilde was sure, but she stopped him, saying, "My father was thinking about starting one, not me. You said this one mines coal?" She made her voice sound naive and stupid. 'Duo, if you don't hurry, I'm going to strangle you with your own braid!' She thought angrily, she was getting sick of acting like an ignorant, rich girl, who's daddy just decided to start his own mining company for the heck of it, but that was the plan.  
  
She was going to distract the salesman long enough from his office, pretending to be interesting in the most expensive mining equipment, for Duo to sneak in, look through his files and hopefully find something that would tell them why this place would have bought so much gundanium-alloy. She had been there for an hour already, searching vainly for Duo to give her the sign.  
  
The man, Cogline, he'd said his name was, was already leading her to yet another design. 'Well, if I am going to be here, I might as well try to get some information.' She thought, and followed after the man with a sigh.  
  
"This one's the T-X-17, it mines iron, a beast, eh?" Cogline chuckled to himself.  
  
"Cogline, do you do business with the Winner Foundation?" At his sharp look, she added, "I mean, your company is so large, it just seems fitting that it should sell to the Winner Foundation, the largest mining company." She said as casually as she could.  
  
The man sniffed loudly. "Well, we do not do any business dealings with the *Winner Foundation.*" He spat the name out.  
  
She tried again. "But wouldn't any mining equipment company as big as Phoenix want to attract the attention of such a large company?"  
  
Cogline hesitated, and his teeth grated out each word. "Phoenix does not sell to the Winner Foundation for- complicated reasons." Hilde winced at the sound. "But enough of that, let's talk business, shall we?" And so he continued leading her through the machines, explaining things she had known about since she was ten. She dared not bring up the subject again, for fear of suspicion. Whatever she could not get out of the salesman, Duo would find in his office.  
  
It seemed like days before she finally saw Duo behind one of the machines, holding some papers in his hand, gesturing for her to hurry. Sighing with relief, she explained to Cogline that she suddenly remembered an appointment she had with a friend, and maybe she would come back later.  
  
She walked casually out of the building, and careful not to attract any unwanted attention, strode to her corvette, where Duo leaned against the door, waiting.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Shailyn eyed the window warily and glanced at Heero, his face was an emotionless mask. For such a cursory investigation, they had decided the best form of infiltration would be through the "backdoor", since it would be less conspicuous than if they interrogated the employees. Shailyn thought Hilde and Duo's plan was better, but she couldn't see either herself or Heero pulling it off convincingly.  
  
Interrupting her thoughts, Heero suddenly made an impossible jump and deftly caught the edge of the half-folded fire escape ladder, hanging below the window. 'There's no way I can jump that high.' She thought. The ladder squeaked as Heero pulled himself up, but no one was around to hear. Once he had his balance, Heero leaned forward over the edge and held out his hand.  
  
"Jump." He said.  
  
Suppressing her doubt, Shailyn pushed off from the ground as hard as she could. Her fingers barely grasped his, before she began to fall again. Grabbing her quickly with his other hand, Heero pulled her onto the ladder. She winced at every screech, but still no one came to investigate the noise.  
  
Her arm was stinging and when she looked down she saw that she had a long scratch from the under part of her elbow to her wrist. Blood started seeping out when she gently pressed on the skin around it. She looked up to see Heero watching her. 'He expects me to whine and cry about it!' She thought disgustedly. "I'm fine." She said out loud and got to her feet.  
  
The window wasn't locked, but it was old and it took three tries before they opened it enough for them to squeeze through. The room they landed in was empty of anything except a few empty boxes and lots of dust.  
  
"We should be on the second floor." Heero said, moving to the door. He opened it cautiously and the beckoned her to follow him as he crept silently into the hall.  
  
They passed many more empty rooms before they came to the section with offices. They were both dressed like maintenance workers so no one gave them more than a brief, uninterested glance. Heero had also required them to wear hats to block their faces from the security cameras.. They walked on until they came to a section that was guarded by an alarm system that required an ID card and a pair of guards, leaning lazily against the wall.  
  
Before she even thought to act, Heero had hit the first guard over the head with his gun and sent the second crashing against the wall with a powerful kick. 'Weren't we just supposed to see if there was anything suspicious, not actually do anything?' She wondered in frustration, Shailyn was used to following orders to the letter, Heero obviously was not. She quickly found an ID card on the first guard and ran it through the alarm pad. The red light to the side turned green and she hurried through, followed closely by Heero.  
  
Once through the system they began to methodically search every empty office they came to and move quietly past those with occupants. After searching through a few computers, Heero concluded that none were connected to each other, a wise security precaution if there were things the company wanted to keep even their employees from finding out.  
  
Shailyn's mind began to wander, the poor overhead lighting was beginning to play tricks on her tired eyes. 'Are we ever going to find anything?' She stopped dead in her tracks. Heero was gone. She looked up and down the hallway frantically, he was nowhere insight.  
  
A hand closed over her mouth. She jammed her elbow back as hard as she could but the iron grip did not let go. Heero's rough voice calmed her instantly.  
  
"Be quiet. Do you want to announce our presence to everyone?" He pulled her into the janitor's closet to their left. He released her so she could peer out of the small crack since Heero had not closed the door completely. Shailyn finally saw who he was talking about, four guards stood completely still against the wall, none moved and all were dressed in a light grey color that blended perfectly with the painted hallway.  
  
Turning back to Heero, she whispered, "No ordinary company needs this many guards. What could they be hiding?" Darkness hid his expression, but she could tell by his tone that he had been thinking the same thing.  
  
"They're obviously guarding something, and chances are it's exactly what we're looking for."  
  
"Well, whatever it is, let's find out." Heero glanced at her, the shadows playing on his face. Abruptly he sprang from their hideout, Shailyn not far behind.  
  
The guards hesitated when they saw the two figures appear form seemingly nowhere, but a moment's hesitation was all Shailyn needed. A hard punch sent one sprawling on the floor, that gave the other time to react. He raised his gun, but she sent it flying through the air with a kick. It was not long before all four guards lay on the floor, unconscious.  
  
Heero and Shailyn exchanged brief glances, then tried the door at the end of the hallway. It was locked, of course and had the same security system they had encountered earlier. A quick search produced an ID card from one of the unconscious guards and the door opened. Cautiously they peered into the room. 


	6. A Brother Lost

Chapter Six: A Brother Lost  
  
Trowa and Wufei sat at the table in the commons area of the training barracks. They had returned early from Imono. There hadn't been anything particularly suspicious about the company's activities and nothing either Preventer found pointed to the attack on Way 415 or the murders of earth officials.  
  
"They should be back by now." Wufei muttered, restlessly.  
  
"Duo likes to take his time." Trowa said with a small smile. "and who knows how Heero and Shailyn are getting on." Just then, Sally entered the room, followed by Quatre.  
  
"Sorry it took so long for me to get here. We've been really busy lately." He said greeting both Trowa and Wufei.  
  
"He has some interesting information for us, too." Sally said, taking a seat across from Trowa. Quatre also sat down and pulled a pile of papers out of the folder he'd been carrying.  
  
"Do you recognize him?" Quatre asked as he handed Wufei the picture of the young man who was suspected of having stole the gundanium shipment a few days prior.  
  
"He led the attack on the Way station." Wufei looked at Quatre for an explanation, Trowa reached out and took the picture from Wufei and examined the young man curiously.  
  
"This picture was taken by the security cameras at the Winner Shipping Department just last week. Dorothy found him snooping around the crates of shipments, he said his name was Makura Hitorimono, an employee of Phoenix Enterprises." Trowa and Wufei exchanged startled looks when they heard the name. "The only reason I found this though, was that just a few days ago a shipment was stolen from the same area that he had been looking at. I had Dorothy look into the matter before I left and she found something fairly suspicious. Mr. Hitorimono is on the employees list for Phoenix, but he has never had a paycheck deposit from the company entered into his account. That would suggest that his being employed there is only a cover up for some other job he has. I think a good conclusion would be that, that other job is working for the Hanran."  
  
"Duo and Hilde are looking into Phoenix Enterprises right now." Trowa said handing back the picture. "Shailyn and Heero are investigating Galileo Space Exploration's, both companies have bought more gundanium than should be necessary for their business in the last three years."  
  
"They still haven't gotten back yet?" Sally asked, a little worried.  
  
"No-" Trowa started, but was interrupted as Duo and Hilde entered the room, carrying four pizzas and a huge bag of bread sticks.  
  
"Duo got hungry on the way back." Hilde said by way of explanation.  
  
"What did you find out about Phoenix?" Trowa asked, taking the bag away from Hilde and setting it on the table. "The information Quatre brought is enough to say they're involved, but it doesn't say more than that."  
  
"What'd you bring?" Duo asked, looking around the pizza boxes and over Quatre's shoulder curiously. Quickly Quatre told the arrivals everything he'd just told Wufei and Trowa. Sally brought napkins and plates back to the table and Hilde found the rest of the sodas jammed in the back of the small frig. When everything was ready they sat down to finish the pizza that Duo hadn't already eaten in the car. During the meal, Duo passed around the information he'd hacked off the Phoenix main computer.  
  
"All I could get to in such a short period of time was that Phoenix is getting a ton of money from an anonymous donor in return for putting a load of people on their employees list even though they're not actually working for Phoenix. I was rudely interrupted by the janitor though, so I didn't find out who was donating the money."  
  
There was a silence as they all mused over the news. Quatre had put the picture of Makura on the table and Duo was staring intently at it. "You know," he muttered around a mouthful of pizza. "This guy looks kinda familiar, but I can't put my finger on it." They passed the picture around one more time.  
  
"Shailyn." Wufei said suddenly when he got the picture. "They have the same nose, they same color hair, the same face shape."  
  
"No way!" Duo cried grabbing the photo back. "Shailyn's a helleva lot prettier than that."  
  
"I think Wufei's right." Quatre said. "They do look alike, but maybe it's just a coincident."  
  
"A pretty damn odd coincident: a guy who definitely looks related to Shailyn shows up at her Way Station, when there are hundreds he could've chosen from and she's the only one left alive." Duo growled.  
  
"You don't think Shailyn helped them!" Quatre cried, shocked.  
  
"Evidence would say so." Sally pointed out.  
  
"I do not believe she did." Wufei broke in quietly. They all turned to him in surprise. It was not characteristic of him to side with the accused, especially when the cards were stacked so high against her. "She has not given me any cause for suspicion yet, I will not distrust her until I have proof."  
  
"I agree." Trowa put in. "Shailyn wants revenge for her friends' deaths, that's why she's here."  
  
"But that might just be an excuse to get inside a feed information to the bad guys." Hilde put in.  
  
"Let's all calm down." Sally said holding a hand out to keep Duo from saying something. "We can show Shailyn the picture when they get back and we can see what kind of reaction she has."  
  
~*~*~  
  
It was late when Heero and Shailyn finally made it back to the barracks. They entered the commons quietly, all the lights were off and they thought everyone must have gone to sleep. They were wrong, the instant the door closed behind them, the light switch clicked and the lights turned on. Both Shailyn and Heero had their guns out and aimed at Duo's chest before they realized it was him. He grinned at them merrily and went to sit on the couch with all the others who had been sitting quietly.  
  
"Welcome back." Sally said, motioning them forward.  
  
"I hope the reason you two are so late isn't because you were smooching in the car." Duo said teasingly. Heero sent him a withering glare and Shailyn gave him a disgusted look.  
  
"Galileo is running an illegal mining operation on Mars." Heero said coldly sitting down. "They have a slave labor force working for them."  
  
"It's mostly made up of orphans. They're basically doing the same thing Romefellar did with us." Shailyn's voice was full of barely contained anger and hatred.  
  
"If what you say is true we need to contact Preventer HQ." Sally said. "Giving Relena Darlian a ring couldn't hurt, either." She added.  
  
"What happened?" Quatre exclaimed kneeling in front of Shailyn and turning her arm over and exposing the long, deep scratch, the scab had broken and blood was welling up again.  
  
"It's nothing." Shailyn said, pulling her hand back.  
  
"You really should get that cleaned." Quatre said, eyeing her with concern.  
  
Hilde got up and came back a few seconds later with a med kit. She handed it to Quatre who, despite Shailyn's protests, began cleaning to cut. While he was doing that, Heero told everyone everything they had found out.  
  
"As far as we could tell in the short period of time we spent there, they aren't directly connected to the attack on the Way Station." Heero concluded. "But I wouldn't rule them out just yet." He added, looking at each of them.  
  
Sally nodded and then glanced at Wufei who held the picture. "Shailyn," He said holding out the picture. "We want to ask you if you recognize this person." Quatre had just finished with her and she held out the now bandaged arm to take the photo.  
  
She stared without recognition for a few seconds and then she dropped it as if struck. Hurriedly she picked it up and examined it again. Heero looked from her to the others curiously. They were all staring at her intently. She had paled visibly and her eyes seemed glued to the photo. "He...he's dead." She finally said, her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"No, he's not." Quatre said, looking at her with worry. "That picture was taken by a security camera at my company just a couple of days ago."  
  
"Who is he?" Hilde demanded.  
  
Shailyn looked up, her eyes were burning with an emotion that no one could place. "He was my brother, but he died when the Preventers raided the Romefellar base. I looked for him!" She said fiercely. "He would have found me if he was still alive."  
  
"Maybe he didn't care." Heero said. His voice hit her like ice water.  
  
"Don't you ever say something like that again." Shailyn hissed. "You didn't know him and you don't know me." Her voice had begun to rise. "You wouldn't even know what it's like to lose family, you never had any." With that she stood up, dropping the picture to the floor and walked out of the room, her legs straining to keep from running.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Wufei found her in the training room. She had changed into loose, gray pants and a white tank top, her hair was pulled up in a long ponytail that trailed all the way down her back. She was beating the crap out of a red punching bag, her arm muscles strained with each punch but she kept at it, not even noticing that Wufei had entered the room.  
  
He moved around in front of her so she had to look at him. She stopped moving and dropped her glove-padded hands to her sides. "What do you want?" She asked, wiping sweat from her forehead with her wrist. When she raised her hand, Wufei could she that the cut had broken open again because the bandages were stained heavily with blood.  
  
"I am here to listen." He said calmly.  
  
"Listen to what? I've got nothing to say." She made as if to start punching the bag again, but Wufei held out his hand.  
  
"I, too, lost my family in the war. The colony I grew up on was completely destroyed and I watched it all happen."  
  
Shailyn dropped her arm and stared at him. "What do you want me to say?"  
  
"First, tell me why you are upset."  
  
"My brother just came back from the dead, wouldn't that make you a tad bit upset too." She snapped sarcastically.  
  
"That's not the whole reason why you're upset." He answered. Siting down cross legged on the mat in front of her, he motioned for her to sit as well.  
  
Sighing, Shailyn sat down across from him. "I just hated what Heero said, about my brother not caring. Romefellar taught us not to care, but we always seemed to shrug off those lessons. None of the other kids had any family, we always felt special because of that and....well, we didn't take advantage of the fact. He was always there when I needed him....except when the Preventers came." She paused. "You know I don't really want to talk about this." She stood up again.  
  
"We need to know if we can still trust you, Shailyn." Wufei said, not looking at her.  
  
She stopped and stared at him. "I want to kill the men who killed my friends, that hasn't changed even though my brother is working for the same people."  
  
Wufei was silent for a while before he finally said, "Your brother was the leader of the men who attacked Way 415."  
  
Shailyn sat down hard. "How could he?"  
  
Wufei remained silent. Finally he spoke. "You can tell us in the morning whether you still want to stay with this mission or if you want to be reassigned to another Way Station." He got up slowly, leaving her sitting there staring at the wall with a bewildered expression on her face.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Everyone had finally gone to sleep when Shailyn crept out into the commons area. As quietly as possible she opened the refrigerator door and stuffed the left over pizza and a couple bottles of water into the small pack she was carrying. She wore loose, light blue jeans and a large gray sweatshirt over a fitted black tank-top. In the pack along with the food, she had an outfit of black clothes, the perfect kind for sneaking around where you're not supposed to be. Silently, she left the barracks.  
  
She had turned to close the barrack's door gently, when she heard a voice from behind her, "Going somewhere?" She stiffened.  
  
Turning slowly, she met Heero's cold, cobalt gaze. Wufei stood next to him, his dark eyes cast downward. "Yes, I am." Was all she said and tried to brush past Heero, but he grabbed her upper arm.  
  
"Where?" His tone gave more meaning to that one word than it had on its own. 'Tell me where and if it's the wrong answer, I will kill you'.  
  
Shailyn breathed in deeply and let it out slowly, trying to think of a way to tell without getting herself killed. "I have to find the truth out about my brother."  
  
"How do we know you aren't just going back to report that you've been found out and you can't spy on us anymore." Wufei asked and Heero tightened his grip on her arm.  
  
"You think I've been spying on you?" She cried, indignant.  
  
"Keep your voice down or you'll wake everyone up." Heero hissed. "And yes, we aren't the best of the best because we're trusting. Give me a reason to believe you're on our side and I'll help you. But if I'm not convinced, I kill you here and now." His gun was in his free hand so suddenly Shailyn hadn't even seen it drawn.  
  
"There isn't anything I can say to make you trust me," She started, wincing as his grip tightened even more. "But you're welcome to come with me and find out for yourself, I wont turn help away."  
  
He relaxed his hand, only a little though. "How do you know where their base is?"  
  
"I don't, but after looking over what Duo and Hilde brought back, I'm sure I can at least find out where my brother is if I can get into the Phoenix mainframe."  
  
Heero nodded slowly, letting go of her arm and picking up a pack that had been leaning against the wall, he put it over his shoulder and motioned for her to lead the way. Wufei picked up his own pack and waited. Blinking in surprise, Shailyn shook her head and started down the street at a brisk walk, painfully aware of the two new shadows at her back, always just two steps behind. 


	7. Kidnaped

NOTE: The last six chapter were written with a partner....the rest is just me though, so if you notice a change to a more consistent style or writing that's why.  
  
Chapter Seven: Kidnaped  
  
Relena Darlian-Peacecraft arrived at Preventer Head Quarters right after the four former-Gundam pilots and the two Preventers. She was dressed in a short skirted, pink suit and matching heels. She looked every bit the capable young woman, but her face broke into a childish grin when she saw her old friends. She hurried to hug each one, but stopped a few feet from the group and asked, startled, "Where's Heero," and after another quick look around, "....and Wufei?"  
  
"That's one of the reason's we're here." Sally said, solemnly. "Heero, Wufei and Shailyn Kawato disappeared last night, we have no idea where they are."  
  
"Shailyn's the surviving Preventer from Way 415, right?" Relena asked. When everyone nodded, Relena sighed. "We'll talk about this later, at the moment I'm here to hear about Galileo and slave labor, not missing Preventers."  
  
General Une who had remained silent, motioned them all to sit around the large, rectangular table that had been provided for them and seating herself at the head. She began, "Upon researching the matter, I believe without a doubt that Galileo is indeed guilty of the crimes brought against them by Preventer's Heero Yuy and Shailyn Kawato, however, it is only our job to enforce the laws, not prosecute the guilty. That is why you are here Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian." Une slid a thick pact of papers toward Relena, who flipped through them half-heartedly. Her mind kept wondering, 'Where had Heero gone?' She couldn't help thinking.  
  
~*~*~  
  
After the meeting Relena caught Quatre as he was coming out of the restroom. "Quatre!" She said, smiling and giving him a hug since she hadn't had a chance to before the meeting.  
  
"It's good to see you Miss Relena. I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to visit you more." He said apologetically, returning the hug.  
  
She shook her head, "No, it's alright, we've all been busy. I was wondering though," She changed the subject abruptly. "Could you fill me in on everything that's happened since the attack on Way 415, I promise the press wont get a single word of it and besides, this potentially involves the alliance between the colonies and Earth and therefore it's part of my job to know what's going on."  
  
Quatre smiled and shook his head. "Until we have any hard facts, I can't tell you anything."  
  
"At least tell me about Heero, Wufei and Shailyn. You really don't know where the are?" She pleaded, searching his eyes for signs that he was lying.  
  
"We think they're doing the same thing we are, trying to find out who the bad guys are. They've just decided to do it on their own. Maybe they found something out that we haven't yet, I don't know." Quatre shrugged. He wasn't going to tell Relena about Makura, not yet at least. Everyone had agreed he had something to do with their disappearance and they were all certain now that Shailyn was innocent of the earlier accusations, Heero would not have gone with her otherwise, he would have killed her if she had been an insider.  
  
"Quatre, you're not telling me everything." Relena frowned into his face. "Is there something between Shailyn and Heero, just tell me if there is. I can handle it, we haven't spoken in almost a year."  
  
Quatre couldn't help but laugh, so that's what Relena was up to, she was jealous. "Don't worry Miss Relena, Heero and Shailyn can barely stand each other's presence, they certainly aren't lovers." "I wasn't worried." She glared at him before smoothing her face into perfect diplomatic expressionlessness.  
  
Quatre nodded in agreement, but continued to chuckle silently. Just then Duo and Hilde came running up, preventing Quatre from saying anything else.  
  
"Quatre! Hurry up, we just got word that they've found another abandoned warehouse filled with gundanium scraps and stuff." Hilde grabbed his arm and started pulling him after her. Duo gave Relena a quick bow and hurried after them, calling over his shoulder, "It was nice to see you again, Relena."  
  
Relena stared after them frowning. 'I wish I knew what Quatre was hiding-' Her thoughts were interrupted by a young man in a Preventer's uniform.  
  
"I'm to escort you to your car, Miss Peacecraft." He said, "will you please follow me?"  
  
Relena wanted to snap that she knew the way to out of Preventer Head Quarters by herself thank you very much, she had been there enough times, but she kept her mouth shut and nodded for him to lead the way.  
  
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts–she couldn't stop thinking of Heero–that she didn't realize until it was too late that the young man was not leading her to the waiting car, he had taken her deep into the lower levels of the building. "Hey!" She exclaimed, but didn't have a chance to get anymore out. A heavy hand clasped over her mouth and a damp napkin covered her face. Sucking air through her nose, she breathed in a bitter smell and felt her conscious slipping away into darkness.  
  
When she awoke, she found herself in small dark room. She was lying on a ratty mattress that sat on the floor, it was the only piece of furniture in the room. 'How could I be so stupid?' She kicked herself mentally. 'It's not like this hasn't happened before, you'd think I'd wise up to it by now.' She sat up and looked around in despair, the dim light was coming from underneath the door and she could hear voices mumbling on the other side. 'No wonder Heero stays away,' She wanted to sob. 'I'm nothing but a stupid girl who needs babysitting 24-7.' She leaned back and hit her head hard against brick wall. 'Pull yourself together, girl!' She mentally snapped. 'If they haven't killed you yet, it means they want something. 


End file.
